The 2026 federal pay raise is 1.0 percent across the board for General Schedule employees, with no locality pay adjustment on top. Locality percentages held at their 2025 levels in all 58 pay zones. The raise took effect on January 4, 2026, the first day of the first full pay period beginning on or after January 1.1The White House. Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay2Federal Register. January 2026 Pay Schedules
What the 1.0 Percent Looks Like in Dollars
The raise applies to the base General Schedule table. A few reference points for 2026 base salaries, before locality pay:3U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Salary Table 2026-GS
- GS-1: $22,584 (Step 1) to $28,248 (Step 10)
- GS-7: $43,106 (Step 1) to $56,039 (Step 10)
- GS-15: $126,384 (Step 1) to $164,301 (Step 10)
Locality pay is layered on top of those figures. The percentages didn’t grow this year, but they still apply. They range from 17.06 percent in the “Rest of United States” catchall to 46.34 percent in the San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland area.2Federal Register. January 2026 Pay Schedules A GS-7 Step 1 in San Francisco earns about 46 percent more than the base figure above; the same job in a smaller metro sees closer to a 17 to 20 percent boost. The gap between locations didn’t widen this year, but it didn’t shrink either.
When the Raise Shows Up in Your Paycheck
The legal effective date was January 4, 2026. Federal employees are paid biweekly and in arrears, so the first paycheck issued in January generally still covers late-December work at the old rate. The new rate typically appears in the second or third January paycheck, depending on your agency’s payroll processing. That gap is normal administrative lag, not a delayed raise.
Who’s Covered
General Schedule Employees
The GS covers about 1.5 million civilian white-collar employees in professional, technical, administrative, and clerical roles.4U.S. Office of Personnel Management. General Schedule These are the workers who receive the 1.0 percent base bump directly.
GS employees also move through 10 steps within each grade independently of the annual raise. Waiting periods run 52 weeks between Steps 1 and 3, 104 weeks between Steps 4 and 6, and 156 weeks between Steps 7 and 9.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 5335 – Periodic Step-Increases Each step is worth roughly 2 to 3 percent of base pay, which in a year like 2026 is worth more than the across-the-board raise itself. Employees with the top performance rating may also receive a Quality Step Increase, capped at one per year and only below Step 10.6U.S. Office of Personnel Management. What Is a Quality Step Increase (QSI)?
Federal Wage System Employees
About 200,000 blue-collar federal workers are paid under the Federal Wage System, which sets hourly rates through local prevailing-wage surveys tied to private-sector trades.7U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Federal Wage System Their pay moves independently of the GS raise in principle, though Congress frequently caps Wage Grade increases to match what GS employees receive.
Senior Executive Service and Senior-Level Officials
SES members work under performance-based pay bands rather than the step ladder and don’t receive an automatic across-the-board increase. Their pay caps shift with the Executive Schedule. For 2026, the aggregate pay cap for most federal employees is $253,100 (Executive Schedule Level I), and SES members in agencies with certified performance appraisal systems are capped at $292,300, the Vice President’s salary.8U.S. Office of Personnel Management. January 2026 Pay Adjustments
Active-Duty Military
The 2026 civilian raise is separate from the military raise. Active-duty service members are covered by Title 37, which ties their raise to the Employment Cost Index without the half-percentage-point reduction that applies to civilians.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 37 USC 1009 – Adjustments of Monthly Basic Pay Military basic pay went up 3.8 percent for 2026, nearly four times the civilian figure.
How the Base and Locality Pieces Fit Together
Every federal civilian raise has two possible components: the base pay increase, which applies to everyone on a statutory pay system, and locality pay, which varies by geographic area. For 2026 the President’s alternative pay plan set the base at 1.0 percent and locality at zero.10GovInfo. Alternative Pay Plan11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 5303 – Annual Adjustments to Pay Schedules12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 5304 – Locality-Based Comparability Payments Presidents can override those formulas through an alternative pay plan submitted to Congress, and nearly every recent President has done so. The Pay Agent’s own reports consistently estimate the federal-private pay gap at 20 percent or more nationwide, well above the 5 percent target FEPCA set.
The Effect on Retirement and Benefits
FERS High-3 Average
The FERS basic annuity multiplies your “high-3” average salary (the highest 36 consecutive months of basic pay) by your years of service and a multiplier. The multiplier is 1.0 percent for most retirees, or 1.1 percent if you retire at age 62 or later with at least 20 years of service.13U.S. Office of Personnel Management. FERS Annuity Computation Basic pay for this calculation includes GS base salary and locality pay but excludes overtime, bonuses, and awards. Even a 1 percent raise in your final working years lifts the high-3 average and every annuity payment after that. For a $100,000 salary with 30 years of service, each 1 percent bump in the high-3 adds roughly $300 per year to the pension.
Thrift Savings Plan Contributions
If you contribute a percentage of pay rather than a flat dollar amount, a raise automatically increases your TSP contributions. For 2026 the elective deferral limit is $24,500. Employees aged 50 through 59 and 64 and older can add $8,000 in catch-up contributions, while those aged 60 through 63 get an enhanced catch-up limit of $11,250 under SECURE Act 2.0 provisions.14Thrift Savings Plan. 2026 TSP Contribution Limits FERS employees contributing at least 5 percent of pay get the full agency match, and a higher salary raises the dollar value of that match.
FEGLI Premiums
FEGLI Basic coverage is tied to salary, so a raise increases both your coverage amount and your premium. The effect is larger under FEGLI Option B, where coverage is a multiple of annual pay (up to five times). Because the calculation rounds salary up to the next $1,000, a small raise can push you into a higher bracket. Employees who cross an age band (45, 50, 55, or 60) in the same year as a raise face premium increases from both the higher coverage amount and the higher per-unit rate for their new age group.
Pay Caps for High Earners
Under 5 U.S.C. § 5307, no combination of basic pay, bonuses, awards, and other cash payments can exceed Executive Schedule Level I in a calendar year, or $253,100 for 2026.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 5307 – Limitation on Certain Payments This mostly hits GS-15 employees in high-cost localities whose base plus locality pay approaches the ceiling. Amounts that can’t be paid because of the cap carry over as a lump-sum payment at the start of the following year, subject to that year’s cap. SES members in agencies with certified performance systems have a higher cap of $292,300.8U.S. Office of Personnel Management. January 2026 Pay Adjustments